Case studdies Flashcards
Describe the role of a manager within a business of your choice.
Business: Tesco
Main activities: retail supermarket
One of the main responsibilities of a manager at Tesco is to make sure that there is sufficient staff to cover the checkouts – they must make sure that the supervisors keep the shelves fully stocked at all times – they are responsible for opening and locking up the store – and making sure that health and safety regulations are kept to by the staff – that the place is safe for customers – and that the store is kept clean and tidy in case there is an inspection from a regional manager
Describe how supervisors in this business communicate, on day-to-day matters,with the employees they manage.
Business: Tesco
Main activities: retail supermarket
Supervisors hold short meetings with their team members every morning before their shift starts – the supervisor will verbally brief the team on new products or promotions – give any particular instructions for that day – and check that the team understands what they should be doing
Describe an example of mentoring in this business.
Business: McDonald’s
Main activities: fast food chain
When someone starts new at my local McDonalds they are told that if they do not understand anything about the job to ask the person who has worked there the longest – this person is expected to give advice or guidance for new employees, in this way they are acting as a mentor – the kind of things the new employee might want to know is what to do with tips – or how many toilet breaks you can take during a shift – the kind of thing that is not spelt out in a contract of employment – these are the kind of things that you can ask a mentor rather than the manager who is likely to be busy with other things
Describe how this business guarantees equal opportunities when recruiting and selecting staff.
Business: Tesco
Main activities: retail provider
Tesco meets its responsibilities by advertising vacancies widely – so that anyone of any age or gender can see the advertisement – they do not discriminate in any way when it comes to selection – they just look for the person who is likely to be best in the particular job that is being advertised
Outline how the ideas of Frederick Taylor have influenced this business in the management of its employees.
Business: Dalgliesh Shirts
Main activities: make leisure clothing
Frederick Taylor thought that people only work for money – he developed this into the idea of piecework – this means that you get paid for each item that you produce – this is the way it works at Dalgliesh Shirts as each machine operator is paid by the number of shirts that they produce each day – the management do this so that the workers are encouraged to increase their output – and thus lower the works cost for each shirt
Using one example, show how this business has been influenced by consumer
protection legislation.
Business: McDonalds
Main activities: fast food outlet
Consumer protection legislation affects this business as all the food that they sell must be as described in their advertising – if it is not the customer can complain under the Unfair Trading Regulations – to avoid this the business trains its staff – so that they are aware that they must produce the food just as described in the advertising/promotion/menu
Outline one main aim of this business
Business: Sainsbury’s
Main activities: retail supermarkets and financial services
A long-term aim of this business is to become the number one supermarket in Britain – to do this they need to overtake Tesco – by cutting prices - or increasing advertising
Give an example of a business with a centralised organisational structure
Business: boots
Main activities: pharmacy chain
boots - head/central office in Nottingham - from here information is passed down to managers within different stores - managers pass on information to supervisors within their stores - supervisors pass on information to employees within their department/teams
Outline one situation when this business would need to interview an existing member of staff.
Business: Tesco
Main activities: retail supermarket
If one of the staff gets caught stealing – the manager will need to interview the person to find out what’s going on – during the interview a member of the Human Resources team will also be present – and they may need to give the employee a formal warning
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Describe one area of training, other than induction, that this business provides for its employees.
Business: Tesco
Main activities: retail supermarket
If you are working in the warehouse at Tesco they train you on safe lifting techniques – this is because most of your work will involve lifting and moving heavy boxes – which could cause injury if they are not lifted in the correct way – the training teaches you that you should use your legs for lifting – and not strain your back – this is designed to help keep the workplace safe for employees
Examine the opportunities for internal promotion in this business.
Business: Canterbury Cars
Main activities: VW main dealer
If you start as a sales trainee at Canterbury Cars you can work your way up to becoming a sales manager – first you have to have been working there for a year or so – and also have n=been trained in product knowledge – as well as sales skills – there is always a turnover of sales staff – so there will usually be a good opportunity for promotion once you are trained
Outline the holiday entitlement for employees in this business.
Business: McDonalds
Main activities: fast food provider
Every employee at McDonalds will have a holiday entitlement as outlined in the contract of employment – this will means so many days each year – in addition they have the right to days off on Bank Holidays such as the Spring Bank Holiday – these are statutory holidays although they could work and take other days off in lieu
Outline how two functional areas work together to make this business successful
Business: Tesco
Main activities: retail provider
Merchandising and stock control are two functions
within a Tesco store – the way they work together is
that merchandising put the goods on the shelves and
then let stock control know if more is needed – they
communicate with each other electronically – using
hand held bar code readers - this is essential for the
success of the business as it helps make sure that
they never run out of stock – if they ran out of stock
they would lose sales as customers would go
elsewhere
Describe two documents this business uses to recruit employees.
Business: Age UK
Main activities: charity shop, sells both donations and new goods
Job Description - to write personal specification
Personal specification - used to compare applications against in order to find ‘ ideal’ candidate.
